As heavy rains lashed different parts of the country – from Tharparkar and Umarkot in the south to Swat in the north – flood-like situation is being witnessed in different rural cities, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
With heavy rains are being reported from Islamabad, Rawalpindi. Attock, Mianwali, Khushab, Layyah, Lodhran and upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least six people have so far been reportedly died in latest incidents.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which is prone to flash flooding and cloudbursts amid the alarming effects of climate change, two children were buried alive as one of the walls their house collapsed at Batkot Dandai village of Shangla district.
On the other hand, three women were seriously injured after the roof of a house, where a wedding ceremony was being held, caved in at Malik Khel Kotkey.
Flash flooding also resulted in the closure of Main Besham Road at Ranial as two vehicles also got stuck there.
Situation is also worsening in the neighbouring district of Battagram where several roads are nor closed for traffic due to landslides. Meanwhile, people have been shifted to safer places as persistent rains are causing an alarming rise in water level in streams and ravines as well as smaller rivers.
Meanwhile, 13 got stuck at Madyan Jarru near the famous tourist resort of Bahrain after Swat River started swelling due to heavy rains. Locals are trying to rescue them amid the raging water while no officials have reached the spot so far for saving the precious human lives.
Three bridges connecting the Bela village with Madyan, Swat district, were also swept away by gushing water as the smaller rivers and streams are in flood due persistent rains lashing the region for the last three days.
Amid the alarming situation, the administration has ensured vacating the Bela and Bashigram villages to protect the human lives.
Similarly, rainwater has submerged many localities of Swabi city where rain started over 20 hours ago.
Likewise, it is feared that the rainwater would soon submerge the populated areas in Dera Ismail Khan after heavy rains caused flash flooding in streams and nullahs. The situation is complicated by the fact that the authorities have done nothing in recent months to for desilting the water channels.
Meanwhile, the media, as expected, is focusing on devastation in Karachi but the interior Sindh too has witnessed colossal losses to crops and private properties. Tharparkar and Umarkot have been already ravaged by the heavy rains in the recent weeks but downpour on Monday made the situation even worse.
Hence, around 100 villages in three union councils in Kaloi tehsil of Tharparkar were among those completely inundated yet again, forcing the people to take refuge at safer places.
The seriousness of the situation can be gauged by the fact that the people have built makeshift homes on sand dunes as the administration failed to provide any assistance to those living in an area containing 40,000 acres of agricultural land.
Meanwhile, there is more bad news for the locals as breach has been located in the Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD) near Jhudo which will inundate more villages. Reports about a large of number villages being inundated are also coming from Sanghar and adjoining areas.
In another area of lower Sindh which has been facing the brunt of the monsoon rains this season, a 10-feet wide breach occurred at the main water channel at Imam Wah, Badin.
As the water channel, like all the other canals and irrigation system, is facing severe water pressure due to increase in its level, it is feared the breach would soon widen as the floodwater is moving towards the populated areas in the nearby villages.
On the other land, the low-level flood recorded in River Sindh at Qadirabad has submerged over 40 villages of Ghotki district.
And in Punjab where the monsoon system started affecting the southern, western and upper parts of the province from Sunday evening, two sisters died at Talagang as a wall of their house collapsed due to a heavy rain continuing for over 24 hours in the area.
Two more people – father and his daughter died as the roof of their house caved in at Bayikh village near Khushab.
In another incident of roof collapse, 10 people – including four children and three women – were injured at Basti Muhammadpur of Shujabad.
Three people, including a woman, were also injured as a result of their house caving in at Shakar Darra in Attock.
On the other hand, a breach in a dyke along River Chenab in Ahmedpur Sial, Jhang district, destroyed standing crops over hundreds of acres of land. The people in the tehsil are also dealing with another 20-foot crack in Rajbah 3-R.
During the past 24 hours [from Monday 8am to Tuesday 8am], the highest amount of rain – 166mm – was recorded in Joharabad. The details for some other towns and cities are: Noorpur Thal 143mm, Malam Jabba 118, Chakwal 117mm, Attock and Sargodha 93mm, Bahawalpur 75mm, Kot Addu 70mm, Multan 69, Karor 64mm, Bhakkar 62mm and Kalam 57mm.